The Dark Root -Part 8 (Final)
by Ludwig
Summary: See part 1


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-Title: The Dark Root

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-Author: Ludwig

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-Disclaimer: See the first damn part all right?

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-Type: Angel/Buffy Crossover Event

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-Timeline: Shortly before 5x5/New Moon Rising

Chapter Fourtheen

Gathered at the bottom of the stairs,Buffy,Angel and their friends were standing in front of a large,sliding door. The young Slayer was feeling no small amount of appreansion at the thought of crossing it. Behind the door,Cain said they would find Lilith,his daughter,and the mother of the vampire race. She had allready fought two Vampire Master in her short but exciting life and had defeated them both. And yet,she knew,or rather,felt,that they were but pebbles,compared to the mountain that lay behind the door. 

Angel placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed a bit. She looked up to him and saw that he was feeling the same way. They looked to their companions to confirm that the feeling was mutual to the entire group. For a moment,the young woman felt the urge to run back up the stairs and put as much distance between her and this door as her legs would allow. But that moment quickly passed and her resolve was whole once again.

"All right,you guys!" she said. "Last call! Anybody wants out,its now or never!"

She looked her friends over for any sign of hesitation but they just returned her stare with without faltering. She could see that they just as afraid as she was but they were also just as determined and this knowledge strenghtened her will even further.

"Ok then. We're going in!"

She grabbed the door by its handle and slid it open. It opened on a large,underground room that was supported by exposed steel beams traversing the ceiling at even intervals and there were also a few steel pillars supporting the ceiling. The floor and the walls were made of greyish concrete and there was a high degree of humidity in the air. Scattered all about the room were crates and wooden shelves that were covered in dust. The floor was also covered in dust and grey ashes and there was an awfull smell,coming from somewhere inside,The room was lit by a few flickering lights but many parts of it were plunged in darkness,specially in the far side. 

The scoobies entered the room and formed a line in front of the entrance. They were scanning the room for any signs of movements but everything was quiet. Suddently,the door slid back shut behind them,making a loud clapping noise. They made them all jump and they turned to see what had caused it to close. But there was nothing to be seen. Xander grabbed the door and tried to open it again but it was to no avail. Something was keeping it jammed shut despite his best efforts. He started pounding on the door in the hopes that Cain would hear them and come down to it from the other side.

"Quiet!" Buffy ordered. 

Xander ceased his tantrum and returned his attention to the silence of the room.

After listening for a few moments at,they all heard a noise that sent chills down their spines. It was a loud rasping sound that Angel imediatly recognized. A sound he had heard the night before. It was followed by a soft rustling sound,as if someone…or something was moving in the dark toward them. Buffy steeled herself and tightened her grip around the stake she was holding. A clumzy,primitive tool by any modern standards and yet,it was the only thing that could kill whatever horror roamed in the shadows of this place. She scanned the far end of the room where the sound was coming from with her eyes and noticed something moving back there. It looked like the shadow of someone that was advancing in their direction. As the form got closer to the area of the room that was lit,they could begin to make out its shape. The thing was barely taller than Buffy and looked horribly thin. Finaly it stepped under a flickering ceiling light she could not help but gasp at the sight that was offered her.

Standing before them,was hat looked like a blond,deathly pale skinned woman whose skin was stretched across her bones. She was wearing yellowish rags that were so torned as to reveal far more of her body than Buffy ever wanted to see. Her long,taloned bony hands were resting by her side and most of her face was covered by her dirty curled hair. Her socketed blue eyes were still visible however,looking at the intruders in her lair from behind the blond strands. She opened her mouth to make a rasping sound,revealing her large fangs. The thing was giving off a God awfull smell of death and decay that was almost impossible to wistand. Buffy had given a lot of though to what they would find in here eversince she had first heard of Lilith. But nothing,net even from the darkest parts of her imagination,could have prepared her for this. Even Master Nest had looked handsome compared to this.

"That's…Lilith?" Xander said. "This is what everyone is getting so worked up about? I mean,look at her! She seems barely able to stand!"

"Xander,trust me and my many broken bones from last night when we tell you that she far more dangerous than she looks." Angel cautioned.

"Indeed." added Wesley. "This creature has endured almost ten thousands of years of existance. Thats considerably longuer than any Vampire Master,many of whom she probably sired herself. Underestimating such a being based on her outward appearance would be a foolish…and fatal mistake. Besides,you heard Cain; even the Powers That Be fears her."

"Yeah well,we're here to make sure that no one ever has to fear her ever again,so lets do this!" commanded Buffy.

The crone lowered her head and rasped,raising her arms to her side,a tell tale move which Angel recognized all too well.

"Whatch out!" he yelled. "She's gonna…"

But before he could finish to word his warning,the air around Lilith became charged with energy and a wave of distortion spread from her at high speed. The scoobies scrambled as best they could but could not avoid the magical attack. It struck them full force and violently projected them against the wall behind them,pinning them in place. Buffy tried to fight against the invisible force pressing her to the wall but it was no use. She did not even have her feet on the floor anymore and she looked around to her friends to see that they were all in the same predicament. All of them were spread across the wall,about a foot from the ground,held in place by the same invisible force. She tried to speak but discovered the she could barely move her mouth. The creature was still standing before them and her ugly smile reapeared. She started walking toward them and the Slayer felt the panic rise in her heart. Lilith walked right up to Buffy and stopped a mere inch in front of the helpless young woman. She could now see very well the nightmarish face of the ancient vampire and the stench of death was nosieting to her.

The crone looked to each of her prisoners and her eyes stopped again on Buffy. She raised her bony hand to the girl's face and caressed her cheek. The finger felt cold to the touch and everything in Buffy wanted to scream her revultion. The creature looked her in the eyes and apparantly saw her distress in them because her smile widened. The young woman then remembered what Cain had said earlier. About how his daughter took delight in prolonguing the torment of the Slayers she had captured. Despire her best efforts,she could not help the dispair that descending onto her. Tears began flowing down her cheeks and she could do nothing to hold them back. This seemed to please Lilith even more. She scouped one of the tears with her bony finger and brought it to her lips. Her eyes closed as she savoured the taste of her prisoner's dispair and,at that moment,Buffy realized that she had never known evil until this night.

To her left,Willow was watching the scene unfold in distress. She wanted to give her friend words of confort but she could not speak. With great efforts,she turned her head away,unable to look upon what was to follow. When her eyes fell on the face of Tara,which was pinned beside her,she noticed that her girlfriend was trying to signal something with her own eyes. She followed Tara's gaze and saw what she was trying to indicate. A little further away in the room there was a large rope,lying in a bundle. Imediatly,she understood her meaning and began making efforts to move her hand toward Tara's own. The later imitated her gesture and,slowly,their fingers crept closer and closer until they finaly felt the conforting touch of each other's skin. At once,Willow felt the power surge through her body,as it always did when she was in contact with Tara. Concentrating on the rope a moment,she was thrilled to see it come to life and slowly slither on the ground as a snake toward Lilith from one end while the other went to attach itself to one of the farthest steel pillars.

She turned to Buffy again and saw the ancient crone prick a small wound on her friend's wrist to draw blood. Buffy winced at the piercing of her flesh but could nothing as the creature's mouth approched the open wound. Seeing the urgency of the situation,Willow commanded the rope to spring upward and to grab Lilith by the neck,which it did. The attack took the crone completely by surprise and intended Willow used this surprise to they full advantage. She sent another mental command and suddently,the rope pulled Lilith back and off her feet,dragging her by the neck on the floor back to where it that enrolled around the steel pillar. Her body struck the pillar full force and the rope imediadly made several circles around her,effectively tying her to the steel post. The crone struggled violently against the rope and was screaming wildly. At once,Lilith's concentration had been broken,as Willow had hoped and the force holding them pinned to the wall vanished. Suddently,the scoobies fell to the floor before them,free once again.

"Is everybody ok?" Angel called.

His companions all answered by the positive and quickly got to their feet. They scrambled pick up they fallen weapons on the floor and gathered around the vampire. On the far side of the room,Lilith ceased to struggle and looked down at the rope holding her in place. Suddently,it burst into flames and disintegrated into dust,allowing her to rise to her feet. Buffy decided not to give her a chance to pin them once again and charged forward,followed at first by Angel and then,by Xander and Wesley. The young witches stayed behind,holding hands and prepared to intervene once again,if Lilith cast another spell.

The ancient crone watched her attackers close in on her calmly. When Buffy reached her,she imediatly tried to stab the vampire in the heart with her stake but Lilith moved out of the way with surreal grace and speed and smacked the Slayer with the back of her hand. Even though she did not appear to put much weight behind the blow,it sent Buddy reeling back into Angel. The later considered catching his former girlfriend for a second but decided against it,as it would make them both vulnerable to counter-attacks by the crone. He sidestepped Buffy and went directly at Lilith with a flying kick. But she dodged the assault once again and Angel wind up hitting the steel post. Before he could bring back his leg,she caught him by the ankle and lifted him off his feet. Making a wide twisting motion with her upper body,she threw him in the nearby wall with enough force to form a few cracks in the concrete. Angel fell to the ground and remained motionless.

Using her appearant distraction,Xander set himself to throw his spear. He had had some success in javelin throwing while in physical training back in high school and used the same principle here. Placing his spear hand over his shoulder,he took a short run toward Lilith before releasing the weapon on the vampire. The spear was flying dead on target and the boy was about to cheer on his own success but his joy was very short lived. Without even looking at it,Lilith deflected the weapon with her hand effortlessly. Wesley rushed past him with his axe raised overhead,ready to split the vampire's skill in half but just as the blade was about to reach her forehead,she caught the axe's handle and pulled it past her. Using the former watcher's momentum against him,she caused him to run right into the pillar behind her. There was a loud bang has his head hit the steel post and he fell on his back hard,knocked out cold. Before Xander could react to this grim turn of event,Lilith turned her attention back to him and,once again,raised her arms to her side and lowered her head. The wave of visual distorsion formed around her and imediatly shot for the boy. It struck him full on and sent him flying backward and right into a set of wooden shelves. The frail structure shattered under his weight as Xander smashed through it and crumpled over him,burrying him underneath.

Willow watched in distress as each and everyone of her friends were being taken out with alarming ease. It was becoming obvious that the creature was merely toying with them and that they had probably gotten into something way out of their league. But complaining about it now would do no good and so she chased those thoughts from her mind. Instead,she and Tara called once again upon their witche's gifts to lift a large wooden crate and propel it toward Lilith. The vampire saw the crate that was flying in her direction and waved her hand as if to motion it away. Suddently,the crate exploded into thousands of wood shards that sctattered harmlesly around the ancient vampire. Then,she turned her sights to the two young girls that were holding hands near the entrance of the room and made another waving motion in their direction. A crevice formed at her feet in the concrete and began spreading rapidly toward the girls,throwing aside large chunks of earth and rocks,as if the very floor was being sliced appart by a large,invisible knife. The witches saw this and jumped to either side to avoid the crevice that shot past them and burried itself into the wall behind.

Lilith's attention returned to Wesley,whom was lying semi-concious at her feet. She bent over the pick him up but before her talons reached him,she was kicked from behind and thrown forward. The vampire staggered two steps forward and imediatly regained her balance. She whirled around,clawing wildly at whatever had attacked her. Behind her,Buffy,who had successfully landed the first strike for the good guys,rolled out of the way to avoid the blow which instead sliced the steel post right down to the mid-section. The Slayer followed with another jump kick which,found its mark right in the middle of Lilith's face. Her head rocked violently the the side and the crone staggered backward a few feet,tripped over some wooden debries and fell on her back. Cain hadn't been lynig when he warned that hitting her would be painfull. Buffy's toes in her right foot were numb from the kicks even with the thick boots she was wearing.

Lilith looked at her attacker for a moment,still sitting on the floor then,her face became distorted withrage. She sprang to her feet and attacked the Slayer in a mad fury,striking wildly left and right. Buffy had lost her stake and so was content to just avoid the blows which smashed through shelves and crates all around her. Her idea was to keep the vampire occupied long enough for her friends to regain their bearings. But she was by no means sure as to how long she could keep this up. If any of the savage blows struck her,she would most likely be killed on the spot and most of the swings missed her by less than an inche. Still for the time being,she kept dodging attacks after attacks,drawing the creature away from her companions. 

Unfortunately,her jacket came to throw a monkey wrench in this tactic when it momentarely got caught on one of the broken shelves. She freed it almost imediatly but still not quickly enough to keep Lilith from catching it with her left hand. The vampire yanked on the jacket and used it to throw Buffy in the air. She landed almost twenty feet away and rolled on the concrete floor a few feet more before coming to a halt. The fall had knocked the wind out of her and she was feeling dizzyness creeping on her. She tried to will her tired body back into motion but it was no use. Then,she felt a steel-like hand clasp around her neck,effectively cutting off blood flow and air suply. She was lifted off the floor by Lilith whom was seemingly done playing around with her enemies. The young Slayer's vision was becoming blurry but she could still see the vampire open her mouth wide,revealing her large fangs and the intention to sink them into Buffy's throat. The Slayer placed her hands on Lilith's face and tried to keep the deadly fangs from getting to her but she might as well have tried to stop the earth's rotation fot the crone's strenght far surpassed her own. She was barely slowing the advance of the mawing jaws of death which were getting closer and closer.

Then,as Buffy was coming to terms with the fact that she was about to meet her demise,she realized that the vampire was no longuer trying to sink her fangs in her or even looking at her. Something else in the room had caught her attention. The Slayer thought at first that in might have been one of her friends trying to help her but then,she heard what she believed had caused the crone to cease her attack. Somewhere in the room,someone was singing. For a moment,she believed that it was her mind playing tricks on her out of blood and oxygen deprevation. But the creature was hearing it as well and was trying to locate its source. Buffy could not recognize either the tune or the strange language the words were spoken in but the voice of the man signing it was familiar.

Still holding Buffy,the vampire turned toward a patch of shadows where the song was coming from. There,she saw a man stepping out into the light,still signing. The man was wearing a long grey duster and the telltale red bandana on his head.

"Tocha ney u bay,tocha ney u bay,nakara woticha tocha ney u ba." Cain sang on softly. The song reminded Buffy of a lulleby,much like those that her father used to sing to her when she was very little. Whatever it was,Lilith was spellbound by it and she relaxed her grip on the young woman's neck,allowing her to breathe once more.

"Tamana tocha wama,tamana tocha wama,tamana tocha meoko na. Do you remember this song,Lilianthas?" Cain asked the vampire softly. "It was allready your favorite even before you could walk upright. Not a single night could go by when i did not have to sing it to you and your brother to make you sleep. Sometimes,you would even make me sing it two or three times. Do you remember?"

The crone threw Buffy aside like a rag doll. Cain shot a quick glance to her and around the room. Buffy landed on the floor but rolled with the impact. She imediatly went to help Angel to his feet. On the other side,Willow and Tara were digging Xander from under the pile of wooden debries and Wesley was slowly coming to. He returned his gae to the vampire now standing a few meters from him.

"You do remember don't you,my daughter. All those eons spent in the dark could not erase those memories for you anymore than they could for me. But back then,i was not much of a father to you. Enoch,your brother,was my pride and joy and this joy blinded me from the fact that i had two wonderfull children. And if i had let Enoch go as i should have,i still would have had you and your mother by my side. I should have been a proud father to you and what joy you would have brought me! You,who were the sweetest flower ever to bloom in the land of Nod. But i was a fool,and now look at what that folly has done to my beautiful flower."

Lilith looked down at her bony talons and examined herself. Everyone around them was watching the scene unfold in absolute silence. The crone raised her eyes to her father and Buffy saw that her expression had changed. She could have sworn that what she was reading in Lilith's eyes was utter dispair. As if she had been asleep all those thousands of years and had suddently woke to realize what she had become. The crone opened her mouth again but that time,it was not to reveal her fangs and she raised her hands pleadingly toward Cain.

"………..Fffaaatherrr….' she rasped. "……….hhhelp…..me……"

The anguish on Cain's face was simply heartbreaking as he slowly walked toward his child. Buffy was about to say something to try and stop him from getting close to Lilith,whom may well decide to kill him,and,by extention,all of them,but Angel hushed her and pointed to Cain's right hand. She looked and saw that he was fiddling something with it. Upon closer examination,she realized that he was discretly slipping a stake out of his duster's sleeve and keeping it hidden from Lilith's sight.

'Thats what i'm here for,my child. To help you." he answered her.

The vampire was still standing there motionless when he got near her. He placed his left arm around the vampire's shoulders and brought her close to him,resting her head on his chest. He kissed her on the head and caressed her blond,curly hair. The scoobies watched eagerly,holding their breath as they saw Cain slowly raise his right arm holding the stake over his daughter.

"I will help you. Help you to finaly find the solace that escaped you for so long. Forgive me,my daughter." he said,brigning down the stake. But,out of nowhere came the bony white hand to catch his arm in mid-strike and bring it to a halt. She jolted back,raising her eyes to him and caught him by the chin with the other hand. The beast in her had just reasserted itself. Cain tried to push the weapon forward but before he could put much effort in his attempt,Lilith twisted brutally her grip on his forearm. There was a loud,sickening cracking sound as the bone snapped and his hand twisted into an unnatural position. Cain yelled in pain and the stake fell from his fingers.

"……..Fffatherr……" Lilith rasped in anger,opening her mouth wide to reveal her fangs. Cain,reacting quickly,drew his knife with his good arm and stabbed her in the belly with it. The vampire shrieked in surprise and shoved him back with such strenght that it lifted him off the ground. He flew several meters back,bounced off the concrete wall and fell on the floor. Lilith removed the blade that was still embeded in her body and threw it down.

Angel decided that this was an appropriate moment to spring back into action. He ran up to the ancient crone,clasping his hands together and made a wide swing aimed at her jaw. The move obviously took her by surprise because it found its mark and lifted off the floor. She fell to her side,visibly shaken for the first time tonight. Cain raised himself up with his left arm to view the situation.

"She is confused and disoriented!" he yelled. "Attack her now,quickly,before she regains her focus. Do it now."

Now fully recovered from their earlier assault,the scoobies moved as one and charged forward. As soon as Lilith was back on her feet,Angel renewed his attacks,hammering her with blows after blows. The pain in his hands was excruciating but he willed himself to ignore it because his attacks were having an effect. He landed three more punched before the crone finaly swatted him aside with had arm. But as soon as she did,Buffy jumpkicked her in the chest and sent her crashing into a pile of wooden planks. As soon as Lilith got up,the Slayer kicked her again,this time in the face,which snapped her head to the side,followed by the rest of her body. She tripped over another crate and wind up on the floor again. Buffy ran up to her ti deliver yep another kick but the vampire was quicker this time. She rose on all four and kicked the Slayer in the hips as she got near. The blow only grazed her leg but it was still enough to sent her spining in the air for a few feet before landing on her back.

Lilith jumped to her feet and turned to press the attack on the Slayer but Angel once again got in her way. He jumped to the ceiling,grabbing on one of the steel beams and swang both feet into the vampire's chest. Unfortunately,she had foreseen the move and sidestepped the attack. She moved quickly to his side and caught him by the throat,easily ripping him off his makeshift swinging pole. She held him up in front of her with one hand and raised her other talon to her shoulder,obviously intend on ripping his heart out. However,before she could complete the manoeuver,Xander came up to her side and stabbed her in the leg with his spear. The crone yelped in pain and grabbed the spear shaft with her free hand. She then threw Angel at the boy,who crumbled under the weight of the vampire that landed heavily on him. Lilith removed the spear from her upper leg and broke it in two halves.

As she threw the pieces to her sides,she did not see Wesley sneak up from behind her with his axe. As soon as he was in range,the former watcher swang the weapon at Lilith and the blade burried itself deep in her back. The crone threw her head back and yelled loudly upon feeling the steel enter her flesh. She whirled around in rage and slapped the man across the face with the back of her bony hand,sending him to crash into the nearby wall. Wesley's back took the brunt of the impact and he fell on his behind at the base of the wall. In the mean time,Lilith grabbed the shaft of the axe that was stuck in her back and removed it,letting off yet another yell. She turned to the british man who was strugling to his feet and raised the axe over her shoulder. Wesley raised his eyes at her and closed them imediatly,convinced that this was the end of the road for him. Willow saw what she was doing and guessed her intent. Calling once more upon their combined witchcraft powers,the girls concentrated on a crate that was near Wesley. Just as the vampire threw the axe at their friend,the crate came to life,quickly slid on the floor and came to position itself between him and the deadly weapon. The axe traversed one side of the crate and imbedded itself deep into the other. When Wesley opened his eyes again,he saw that the blade had stopped a mere inche away from his noze and he breathed a sigh of relief.

The vampire hissed her rage at the young witches and she was about to cast another spell at them but she was interrupted by Buffy who grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back. The vampire clawed at Buffy but the Slayer was quick enough to dodge the deadly talons and counter-attacked with a solid haymaker the her foe's jaw. She was able to punch Lilith twice more before the pain in her knuckles became too great to hit her again. The crone lunged at her neck with both hands but Buffy jumped out of the way and slipped in her back. Before Lilith could regain her balance from the attack,the Slayer kicked her in the buttox which projected her forward and right into another shelve. The vampire imediatly grabbed the wooden frame and threw it at Buffy. The shelves his the young woman and shattered on impact,throwing her to the ground.

Then,out of nowhere,Angel jumped the vampire from behind and slipped his arm around her neck,placing his other hand behind her head to fasten his grip. He then pulled her back on him,trying to get her off her feet. The much stronger crone suddently threw her upper body forward in an attempt to flip her attacker over her but Angel was prepared. As he vaulted over her shoulders,he brought his legs up and hooked his knees. This allowed him to slip his legs into the frame of the over-head steel beams and thus,to halt the flip with him hangning upside down over the ancient vampire. Angel pulled both on his legs and arms and managed to hoist Lilith off the floor. The crone snarled in surprise and started to struggle savagely,kicking and clawing at Angel's arm around her neck but the later held on tight. Buffy cleared herself from the broken shelve's debries and rose to her feet. Looking up,she saw that Angel had caught Lilith by the neck and was holding the wildly jerking body of the old vamp less than two feet above the floor. This was their chance but she knew she had to act fast because it was clear that Angel wouldn't be able to hold on much longuer. Looking quickly around the room,she located the stake that Cain had dropped on the floor,lying between her and the two vampires. She broke into a fast sprint toward it,summoning every last once of energy left in her. When she got near the stake,she plunged on it,executing a swift roll on the floor and caught it in the right hand. She came out of the roll less than a meter away from Lilith and grabbed the stake with both hands,brigning it up in position to strike. Using her aquired momentum,Buffy aimed for the crone's heart and thrust the weapon forward,putting her entire weight behind the strike.

Just as the point of the stake neared Lilith's chest,time seemed to stop and,for a fraction of a second,Buffy believed that the creature would somehow escape her destruction and closed her eyes. But then,time began moving forward again and she felt the weapon impact against the vampire's flesh and pierce it. She felt the stake sink deep within the breast of the creature and she felt its blood splatter on her hands. Then,she heard the deaffening roar of agony that the vampire made,a roar so powerfull that it shook the building's fondation and could probably be heard for miles around. Buffy opened her eyes and looked upon the ancient vampire to see with relief the stake jutting from her heart.

But before the Slayer could rejoice at her success,Lilith swiftly brought her knee up and struck her under the chin with it. The attack caught Buffy completely by surprise and it threw her on her back several meters behind. The crone grabbed Angel's arm and opened his grip,freeing herself. She then pulled sharply on his arm,ripping him off the ceiling and smashed him head first on the concrete floor. After that,she turned to the downed Slayer and began walking toward her,her face distorted by a grimace of hatefull fury.

Buffy,dazed from the blow and the successive fall,slowly raised her head and saw the vampire,with the stake embeded in her chest,still alive and advancing toward her. She tried to get up but her body refused to obey. Her heart once again felt the grip of dispair and she prayed silently for her friends's death to be quick. But just as Buffy was preparing herself for her own impending demise,she noticed that the vampire's steps were becoming unsteady. Her pace slowed down and she finaly stopped a few feet from the young woman. The creature looked down at the stake in her chest and then,collapsed on the floor.

Buffy willed her body wracked with pain in motion and sat up. She looked around at her friends to evaluate their condition. Angel was slowly getting up,rubbing his head. To her left,Wesley was helping Xander up and behind,Willow and Tara were assisting Cain. As the man rose to his feet,Buffy saw that he was holding his broken arm next to his body. A shadow fell over her and whirled around to identify the source. Standing over her,Angel extended his hand to her,which she took. He then pulled her up and placed his arm around her back to support her weight. Still a feeling little groggy,she gladly accepted his assistance.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly.

She simply smiled and nodded. Then,she looked down at the fallen vampire. Amazingly,Lilith was still alive,as if she could ward off her own death with the strenght of her ancient will but,Buffy was not worried. For some reason,she could feel the creature's life force slowly slipping away and she knew that it wouldn't be long now. She glanced over at her friends,who had come to gather around Lilith. Cain stepped forward and,to everyone's surprise,kneeled right beside his daughter,who turned her head to look at him. Buffy was about to protest but something inside her commanded her to keep quiet.

The old vampire stared at Cain in silence for a long moment and then,her dried lips cracked into a smile.

"……….Fffatherr……." she rasped.

Cain face showed his heartbreaking anguish and his eyes became teary.

"I am here,Lilianthas,my child. I am right here."

Her face then mirrored the pain she was feeling.

"………Fffatherrr…….." she rasped again,this time with great effort.

Tears began streaming down Cain's cheeks.

"Oh my God! My beautiful child! What have i done! What have i done!" he said sobingly. "I'm sorry! Oh God,I'm so sorry!"

The scene was simply heart wrenching and Buffy had to fight hard to keep herself from crying. Willow was not able to hold her tears and Tara sqeeze her hand confortingly. As for Xander and Wesley,they could not even look at it.

But Lilith smiled again and raised her bony hand to wipe the tears off Cain's right cheek. He took her hand in his and kissed it.

"…….No……tears…….fffatherrr….." she rasped softly. "……..I..am…….free……"

With that,her eyes went blank,her head fell lifeless to the side and she was dead. Cain wiped the tears off his face and placed her hand on her chest.

"Sweet dreams,my beloved daughter." he wispered to her. 

Then,Cain got up and took one step back. As soon as he did,Lilith's body turned from white to grey,then to black and finaly crumbled into dust. The bandana man looked down at the stake sticking out of the pile of ashes but now,no emotions could be read on his face. There was a long moment of silence that followed during which Cain remained there,motionless,looking at the remains of his daughter. Finaly,the silence was broken by Xander.

"So thats it,then. Its over!"

"Hay." Cain said. "The Dark Root is no more."

Willow stepped forward and came to stand next to him.

"Are you ok?" she asked him. He turned his head to look at her and managed a smile.

"Yes,Willow,i'm fine. I've allready had thousands of years to mourn her. And now,she's finaly at peace."

"Yeah but…i also meant…" she added,pointing at his mangled arm. He looked down at it.

"Oh,that?" he said. "Yeah. I really hate it when that happens."

He placed his left hand around his right wrist and gave it a sharp twist to set his arm back in proper alignement. There was a loud cracking sound that extracted a grunt of pain from him and made everybody else wince. After a few seconds,he started to open and close his right hand in rapid succession and shook his wrist.

"There." he said. "It'll be stiff for a while but after that,it'll be good as new."

"Ok! Please don't ever do that again in front of us." Xander pleaded. "Fighting hordes of vampires is one thing,but that was really creepy!"

"My appologies,Xander. I'm just not used to being around people that much."

"Maybe that's something we could remedy." Buffy proposed. Cain turned to her and shot an inquisitive look.

"Yeah,i mean…well,now that you don't have to worry about Lilith anymore." she continued. "You could,like,come and spend some time with us in Sunnydale. We could get to know each other better. After all,you're kinda like family and all.'

"Oh yeah!" Willow said. "You could,like,teach us some of the cool spells you learned that would help us fight vampires and other nasty things. And in return,i could show you how to hack your way into a computer,which can always be usefull. Wouldn't that be neat?"

"I certainly would love to spend some time hearing your take on the many historical events you undoubtly witnessed." Wesley added.

Cain looked around at them and smiled.

"Hum! That a very tempting proposition indeed. It has been a very long while since i've spent any time in the company of others. But before we can get on to that,there's still something we have to do here. Something that will bring this whole dark chapter of history to its final conclusion."

"Really?" Buffy asked. "And what's that?"

Cain fished the charm crystal out of his pocket and placed it on the ground,amidst the ashes. He then went to fetch his knife which was lying on the floor a little further away and came back to stand in front of the crystal.

"Its mearely a small ritual of cleansing." he assured her. "Just everybody gather around the crystal please."

The gang complied and formed a circle around the charm. When they were all in place,Cain kneeled down and struck the charm with the butt of his knife. Upon impact,a crack formed on the crystal from which a bright ray of red light shot out. The light was so bright that it illuminated the entire room and bathed it in a red hue. Then,Cain got up and placed the blade of his knife over his right palm. He stopped a moment to look at each of the people gathered around in circle almost as if he was trying to burn their faces into his memory. Buffy noticed this and was about to ask him about it but before she could say a word,he cut his hand and sqeezed the open wound over the broken crystal. A single drop of blood fell from his hand and splashed down on the crystal. 

As soon as it did,a massive wave of blinding red light exploded from the crystal charm and washed over the scoobies. The wave spread out of the warehouse and rapidly expanded in all directions. It reached a nearby street corner where in passed over the prostitute Cindy Warner and continued its course. It reached the police station and washed over Kate Lockley as she was exiting the building,then continued on its way. It reached Cordelia's appartement and engulfed her as she was cooking herself a late snack,then kept on going. It expanded right up to the edges of the whole city of Los Angeles before it finaly dissipated and vanished.

********************

Back in the warehouse basement,Buffy shook her head to clear her vision. She quickly glanced around to make sure that Willow,Xander,Angel,Wesley and Tara were all right. Cain was no longuer among them and nor was his crystal but no one seemed to notice that.

"What the hell was that?" Buffy asked

"I haven't got the slightest idea!" Angel said. "But whatever it was,it doesn't appear to have done anything. Everyone's present and accounted for."

"Maybe it was supposed to be some nasty,post dusting,avenging spell that just went poof." commented Willow. "No offense but she didn't seem like much of a witch."

"She didn't seem like much of a anything,if you ask me." Xander added. "Is it just me,or are these so called 'Vampire Master' just getting to easy to slay? It took us a day to find her and you and Angel killed her in less then twenty seconds. Even nutered Spike gave us more of a figth than that!"

"Hold on Xander!" Wesley intervened. "She may not have been the real Lilith but those vampires up there believed she was and were ready to die for her. Any vampire capable of inspiring that kind of loyalty is nothing to be triffled with and we were right to deal with her so swiftly. It will send a warning to any vampires who would want to pretend to the title of the Dark Root in the future that doing so will only hasten their demise."

"What about the real Dark Root?" Buffy asked. "Do you think she ever existed?"

"Well,vampire do have a point of origin." Wesley answered. "So,yes,she probably existed,but even if she did,it is likely that she perished long ago. Such an ancient creature could hardly have lived so long without anyone knowing about it,right?"

"I guess so." conceded the Slayer. "But there are still many unanswered questions about this whole thing. The man Cordelia saw in her vision,for instance. Who was he and what did he have to do with any of this?"

"You mean the 'naked,handsome man' from Cordelia's vision?" Angel asked with a wry smile. "Well,Wesley had a few freudian theories about that."

"Cool,but how about we carry on this discussion in more hospitable suroundings,hum?" Xander proposed.

"Best idea i've heard all night!" Buffy agreed and with that,they exited the room and climbed back upstairs. The four vampires they had left up there were nowhere to be found when they returned to the warehouse main room. Obviously,they had decided that retreat was their best option after their 'queen' had been killed and they would have to be tracked down. But Angel decided to save the worry about this for some other night. The group left the building and began walking toward their cars,which were parked a few street corners away. When they got there,Xander got behind the wheel of one of the vehicules,along with Willow and Tara while Angel,Buffy and Wesley walked toward the vampire's black convertible. But as he was fetching his keys,Angel noticed that a man,on a distant street corner was watching them and stopped to look at him. The man was wearing a long grey duster and a red bandana on his head. For some reasons,he seemed odly familiar to the vampire.

"Hey! You still with us?" Buffy said,coming up behind him. He turned to look at her.

"Heu…yes. Its just that guy over there watching us." he said,pointing to the street corner.

"What guy?" 

"That one over…" but when he turned again to look at him,the man was gone. He searched the surrounding rea with his eyes but he was nowhere in sight.

"Are you all right?" she asked,concerned. "Do you want us to go look for him?"

The vampire kept looking at the street for a while longuer.

"Nah! Its probably nothing important. Guess i'm still a little jumpy. Come on,you guys must be hungry. I think i still have a box of donnuts stashed somewhere at the office."

"And they say that no good deed goes unpunished!" she joke as they walked to the convertible where Wesley was waiting for them. They all got into the car and then,both vehicules drove off.

************************

Epilogue

Standing on the corner of an alley,Cain watched the cars speed away. A small part of him wanted to go run after them but he knew that would have been wrong.

"I'm sorry i had to do this,my young friends,but it is for the best. I really wish i could have stayed and gotten to know you all better but your friendship is a boon i really don't deserve. And besides,i learned long ago that your world was never meant for someone like me."

He looked down at the crystal in his hand. The charm was cracked and had taken a dull greyish tone.

__

Guess i won't be needing that anymore.

Cain lifted the top of a nearby trash can and threw the crystal in. He reajusted his duster's collar and started walking in the direction opposite to the one the cars had taken. He stopped for a moment in front of the warehouse that was his daughter's final resting place and shot a last glance at it. Then,he put his hands into his coat's pockets and continued on the street. A little further away,he turned into a small alley and disapeared into the night.

THE END.

Author's note;

Hi. My name is Louis Bouchard and i'm from Quebec,Canada. This was my first story in english (i'm natively french speaking) so i hope you will forgive the sometimes less than stellar diction and vocabulary. I did not have any dictionary on hand so this is all from memory and if there's any part of it your were not clear on,feel free to e-mail me about it and i'll be glad to explain. As i stated in the first part,i'm kind of a newcommer to the Buffyverse of Joss Whedon. I did see the movie with Christy Swanson starring as Buffy a couple of years back but i was not impressed by it. This is probably why i shunned the first two seasons of the series and only started following the third season from mid-season on. Now of course,i'm properly kicking myself for doing so and i can't wait for the show to go into syndication,so i can see everything i missed.

So far,i really like everything thats been done on the shows and i'm looking forward for both the fifth season of Buffy and the second season of Angel,as i'm sure many of you are. This story was intended to illustrate my personal theory of the vampires and Slayers origin,based on what had been told in the serie so far. This is just my take on it and i'm sure that Joss has his own ideas on the subjects and that they are probably better than mine anyway so please don't flame me for screwing around a little with the Buffyverse; it was just for the fun of it.

This was supposed to be a short story,25-30 pages long tops,but it finaly turned into a 100 pages novel. And even then,i cut corners a lot. Sorry about that but i just like writing so much. It has yet to be polished and i would really appreciate your help on that in the form of your opinion on the story itself. And please bear in mind that i'd rather have ten genuine critics than one praise you don't mean. Of course,if you did like it,feel free to say so; my ego can always use a little boost,every now and again. I hope you did enjoy it,at least half as much as i enjoyed writing it and you can expect to hear from me again. I have a million stories to tell. In the meantime,ya'll take care now,ya hear?

Louis


End file.
